Archbishop Ranjith says Lay Movements at Service of Parish

(02 Feb 08 - RV) Archbishop Malcom Ranjith is the secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Speaking at a recent conference sponsored by the Roman diocese on “New Evangelisation in Parishes; the cause of Ecclesial movements and New communities”, he said that the parish must remain the focal point for communal worship and mission:

“The Parish has to be missionary because the universal church is missionary, we know that the Lord entrusted his mission to the Church and as such the Church wherever it is found, even in the parishes, is missionary. Parishes share in the missionary duty and responsibility of the church”.

“Lay movements are a gift of God, those lay movements must be harnessed for the mission of the parish, the lay movements themselves must not think that they are cut off from the parish, a special group away from the parish, but should place themselves at the service of the parish in order to help the parish achieve its mission”.